I rise to lend my strong support to this landmark piece of legislation introduced by the minister just now on behalf of the Albanese Labor government, one that addresses a critical issue facing our universities and indeed all of Australia, and that is gender based violence. The Albanese Labor government has demonstrated a clear commitment to making Australia's higher education system a safe and more inclusive environment for everyone. The introduction of a national higher education code to prevent and respond to gender based violence is an historic step towards achieving this goal. Many students and staff have said that they don't know where to seek support or how to make a formal complaint to their higher education provider, and those that do are often dissatisfied with the process. For too long students have been let down by their universities and inaction by previous governments, and the introduction of this bill is a sign that perpetrators and higher education institutions are now on notice.

Gender based violence in all its forms has no place in our communities, yet for far too long we have seen it persist in various spheres of society, including in our universities. Gender based violence is an epidemic that impacts students, staff and the broader campus community. It affects individuals' mental health and academic performance and their sense of safety and belonging. We have heard heartbreaking stories of students, many of whom are young women, who have experienced violence, harassment and discrimination while pursuing education. The statistics are alarming, and the effects are far-reaching. One in 20 people have reported being sexually assaulted, with one in six reporting they have been sexually harassed. Even more stories emerged of inadequate responses from our higher education institutions, with students experiencing a lack of any complaints process, a lack of materials on how to begin a complaints process, a lack of feedback when a complaint has been made and a lack of education on consent. As a society we cannot accept this. We must act to ensure that all students can study in an environment that is free from harassment, violence or discrimination.

The Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025 offers a solution, a comprehensive framework to tackle this issue head-on. This bill seeks to establish a national code of conduct for Australian universities, setting clear standards for how universities must prevent and respond to gender based violence. It will require universities to adopt best practice in supporting those who have experienced sexual assault or harassment, investigating allegations and creating a campus culture that prioritises respect, safety and inclusion. Under the bill the national code will require policies, procedures and processes for responding to gender based violence in a trauma informed away and ensuring key functions are undertaken by people who have the appropriate skills and expertise. This will help to improve experiences and outcomes for people who disclose their experiences of gender based violence, strengthening the discloser's autonomy to ensure they are heard and appropriately supported. A key feature of the code is its national reach. For the first time universities from across Australia will be bound by a uniform set of expectations and protocols ensuring consistency in how they address gender based violence. This approach will eliminate the patchwork system that currently exists, where responses to gender based violence can vary from one institution to another.

The Universities Accord bill is comprehensive, addressing the prevention of gender based violence as well as support for those who experience it. The bill mandates that universities provide ongoing education and awareness campaigns aimed at preventing gender based violence. This includes programs that promote respectful relationships, consent education and bystander intervention. These initiatives are essential in changing the culture that allows gender based violence in the first place. This bill establishes clear, accessible reporting mechanisms for students and staff who experience or witness gender based violence. This bill ensures that these reports will be taken seriously and investigated in a timely and transparent manner. Victims will no longer have to navigate a maze of complicated systems to seek justice. The bill mandates that universities provide comprehensive support to survivors of gender based violence. This includes access to counselling services, legal support and accommodation options, ensuring that students are not forced to remain in environments that compromise their safety and wellbeing. Importantly, the bill ensures that universities are held accountable for their actions. Institutions will be required to publicly report on their progress in implementing the code and to demonstrate how they are improving safety and support systems on their campuses. An independent body will oversee the implementation of these measures, ensuring that universities not only are compliant but are genuinely making strides in creating safer environments for everyone.

This bill is not just about preventing violence; it is about creating a culture of respect and inclusion in our universities. By establishing clear guidelines and expectations for behaviour, we are sending a strong message that violence, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable—period. For too long we have tolerated a culture where these issues are minimised or, worse, ignored. This bill shifts that narrative. It empowers universities to be leaders in the fight against gender based violence and sets a national standard for how higher education institutions should behave in the 21st century.

Universities play an integral role in shaping the future of our society. They are places of learning, growth and opportunity where people from diverse backgrounds come together to develop skills and knowledge that will enable them to contribute in the workplace and their communities for generations to come. But for universities to fulfil that vital role they must be places where students feel safe, valued and respected. Students should be able to focus on their studies and pursue their dreams without the fear of harassment or violence. This bill is a step towards making that vision a reality. Implementing a code of conduct, establishing clear reporting and investigation mechanisms, and ensuring more training are important steps towards stopping gender based violence at our university campuses.

But universities must also work towards cultural change, which will be the only thing that brings about permanent change. We all know—in fact, from our own experience of this parliament—that drafting the codes of conduct were in fact the easy work. Making those legal changes are what we can do in parliament, but what really is the hard work is changing culture. That is the work that we need every university leadership team to really lean in on. We're going to provide, through this bill, the important frameworks to enable you to do that—but helping drive culture change will be a responsibility of every single person.

This bill is just one part of Labor's commitment to making our higher education system safer, fairer and more accessible. To date, we've established the National Student Ombudsman, another key measure of the action plan addressing gender based violence in higher education. The ombudsman commenced earlier this month and enables higher education students to escalate complaints about the actions of their higher education provider, including its management of gender based violence complaints. We've passed the legislation to cut a further 20 per cent off all student loan debts, wiping around $16 billion in student debt for around three million Australians. This will see around $5,700 deducted on average from the debts of more than 25,000 students in my electorate of Newcastle alone. This builds, of course, on the work we've already done to fix the student loan indexation formula, which has cut around $3 billion in student debt, with most receiving their credit or refund in December last year. We've invested in students who've signed up to do the most important jobs in this country by introducing a prac payment for those wanting to undertake teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work degrees, because we know these students have to do mandatory placements, and it was unfair that they gave up paid jobs in order to go and do unpaid placements. We've massively expanded fee-free university courses, which act as a bridge between school and university, helping more Australians to succeed when they get there. The University of Newcastle is a national leader in this regard. We've made changes to the provision of student service and amenity fees, requiring higher education providers collecting them to allocate a minimum of 40 per cent of the funds raised to student led organisations. We've provided an additional 20,000 Commonwealth supported places to train more Australians at university, and this is providing extra subsidised places for people studying bachelor and sub-bachelor courses in areas in need of skills, meaning more teachers, nurses and engineers. And we've established university study hubs in suburban and regional areas, providing people with a place to undertake their education closer to home, which means that the next teachers, nurses, midwives or social workers can study and then go on to work in the areas where we need them to work.

The national code is a key measure of the Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education, agreed to by every education minister across Australia. Together with the National Student Ombudsman, these measures will ensure greater oversight and accountability of higher education providers and help drive the cultural change we need to see in the higher education sector to prevent and respond to gender based violence. The Albanese Labor government is committed to ensuring that all students, regardless of their gender, can access education in environments that are free from harm.

The Universities Accord bill is not just a piece of legislation; it is a call to action. It is a call to universities to take responsibility for creating safer campuses, and it is a call to all of us to stand together in the fight for justice and equality. I urge all members of this House to support the important bill before us and to continue working towards a future where gender based violence is eradicated from our universities and where all students can learn, grow and thrive in an environment of respect and safety. I commend the bill to the House.